McAuliffe + Carroll Architects

Grillin' in the East Village

Our latest project just completed not too long ago. Mighty Quinns on 2nd Avenue. Good enough for Jimmy Page!:

Great photos by Giacomo Fortunato!

jm

2nd Avenue BBQ

Our new project for Mighty Quinn's, on the corner of 2nd Ave. and 6th Street New York City, has begun construction and is moving along quickly. This front window will soon be a glass overhead door:

The building has an interesting footnote in rock history, as the Fillmore East was the neighboring building. A well know fire occured in our building, in 1968, causing the abrupt ending of a concert by The Who:

Mighty Quinn's, is setting up shop on the first floor after a very successful regular "gig" at Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasburg:

 

Grand opening is planned for around Thanskgiving. Jusrt outside the front door is a "historic marker" for the Fillmore created by the wonderful Jim Power, The Mosaic Man:

As for the Fillmore, not a trace remains:

jm

Serra in Pittsburgh

His sculpture "Carnegie" outside the Carnegie Museums:

The gap in the plates:

Leads to:

jm

Pratt at 125

Pratt Institute is celebrating it's 125th anniversary of its founding this year, and Channel 13 in New York just broadcast a segment on the school for the Treasures of New York series. It is pretty good!

Jim McAuliffe, AIA (Class of 1983)

Buildings We Like: Foster

Ten minutes away from the convention center in Washington DC is the former U.S. Patent Office that now houses the National Portrait Gallery and the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The original building was designed by Robert Mills, the first american architect born and trained in this country. The interiors have been sensitively renovated for the display of art and artifacts:

But the real stunner is the courtyard. Here Foster and gang enclosed court with a freestanding, undulating, structure that is barely visible from the outside, and thrilling on the inside:

Preservation and modernism can lead to great spaces.

jm

Buildings We Like: Bikestation Long Beach

Downtown Long Beach was deserted on a Tuesday morning, but the transit hub had some activity. There I found Bikestation A really cool, smart, building for use by bike commuters. Designed by Fernando Vasquez Studio, it is right next to the Blue Line station, which runs along street level at the Long Beach terminus. Surrounded by a garden the building is a glass envelope shielded from the sun with vertical aluminum extrudes:

Pow- front door:

The inner ramp leads up to the upper floor storage area:

It looks like it could be modulized for other sites. Nice to see:

jm

Flaming Cactus...

... is not the name of that "Nuggets" band, but an environmental artwork in Astor Place, New York. It was installed by the Animus Arts Collective on several light poles around the intersection.

Who knew zipties came in colors other then black and white? 

 

 

JM

Habitat House in Trenton

We just completed our plans for a new prototype house to be built by the Trenton affiliate of Habitat for Humanity. Breaking with their previous direction of a more suburban model, the Board of Directors and the Construction Committee both agreed to let us design a new, simpler model that is fast to construct and is very energy efficient. The exterior shell is constructed of 6 1/2" Structural Insulated Panels (or SIPs) which will provide a tight and well insulated enclosure. The use of SIPs should also decrease the overall construction time and allow Habitat to complete more houses in a year.
 This initial design is for a detached single family residence, and later iterations of this will include attached single family (or duplex) and a row-house model. This project is being sponsored by Bloomberg and we hope to start construction this summer, pending approval by the City of Trenton. Check back for updates!

RC

Buildings We Like- BCJ

We are going to try a regular entry to our blog by highlighting buildings that either impress us, we find simply striking, or blow our minds.

First up are our designs by our friends at Bohlin Cywinski Jackson who have been designing Apple Stores for many years. I have had the pleasure of visiting all the flagship stores in New York, and it is hard to say which one is my favorite.

The first one was the conversion of an abandoned post office on Spring Street in the Soho area. That's Ethan on the bridge:

The next location is probably the most well known- 5th Avenue at the Plaza. If you have a craving for Mac @ midnight (I don't mean mac 'n cheese), this is the place:

A riot of glass & reflection:

On 14th street, and old warehouse building was converted to the next store. I think the building renovation is as equally spectacular as the stair. The view from Pop Burger- delicious:

I still wonder how dropped gloves are removed from the central glass support:

Cal on the bridge:

The newest store on on Broadway in the Upper West Side. These stores get more elegent, striking and simple with each new one:

JM

A House in Trenton

Last week the Tranton Chapter of Habitat-For-Humanity received approvals from the Trenton Zoning Commission for a small, infill, house project that we designed for them. It will be their first house constructed using SIP's and we are hoping it becomes their new "standard".

Here is the street view showing the covered, recessed, entry door:

The facade will be brick veneer and is capped with a modern interpretation of a traditional cornice line.

In the rear we have designed a simple, covered, porch off the kitchen:

JM